Research

Research projects in the Solid-State and Nanotechnology area cover a wide variety of topics. Experimental research in integrated photonics and optoelectronics spans work varying from device design and fabrication, device physics, optoelectronic integrated circuits and photonic integrated circuits for communication, imaging and sensing, solar cells, to the integration of III-V based photonics with Si CMOS.

In many of these areas, the experimental work is complemented by theory, modeling and analysis. Research in organic and molecular electronics includes organic field-effect transistors, integrated circuits and light-emitting devices on glass and plastic substrates, hydrogenated amorphous silicon thin-film transistors and active-matrix arrays on glass and plastic substrates for flat panel displays and sensors, and active-matrix organic light-emitting display technology. 

Faculty are leaders in the research of high performance electronic and optoelectronic devices based on high quality compound semiconductor materials and complex semiconductor heterostructures. Research is being conducted in the epitaxial growth of compound semiconductor materials, where three molecular beam epitaxy systems and one metal-organic chemical vapor deposition system are currently under extensive use for the research of new materials and to support device research. 

The Solid State and Nanotechnology area is home to one of the most active and prominent programs in high-frequency (GHz and THz) devices, materials and integrated circuits. Devices have ranged from vacuum tubes used in the 1950s for use in microwave circuits to mainly solid-state devices that have been developed and used since the 1960s. Many significant developments in millimeter, microwave, and RF circuits have been made during the past five decades, and ongoing research focuses on the development and application of THz frequency devices and technologies. 

Finally, there is a rapid growing interest in the study of nanoscience and the development of nanotechnogies. Many interesting phenomena and new properties associated with various nanostructures represent an untapped source of scientific investigation.

Specialties

• Displays and Detectors
• High Frequency Devices and Circuits
• Integrated Photonics and Optoelectronics with Quantum Confined Heterostructures
• Materials for Solid State Electronic and Optoelectronic Devices
• Nanotechnology and Nanofabrication

ECE Faculty

Affiliated Faculty